Great news for Seldom Scene fans…

SCENEchronized, their first CD of new recordings since 2000, is expected from Sugar Hill Records on August 14.

This new Scene project will contain 13 tracks, with songs from Paul Craft, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard and Donna Hughes. It also features a number of tributes to founding member, the late John Duffey, with refashioned versions of two songs he recorded with The Country Gentlemen and one he wrote and cut with the original Scene 34 years ago.

On this list is Katy Dear, one of my favorite Country Gentlemen songs ever. Current guitarist Dudley Connell explains how they came to choose this song, and record it with 3 part harmony start to finish.

“We all knew this one from the Gentlemen, and we would pull it out from time to time just for the sheer pleasure of harmonizing together.”

Lou Reid adds his homage to Duffey with a redo of This Morning At Nine, and Fred Travers sings Don’t Bother With White Satin, a John Duffey/Ann Hill composition that had appeared on their Act III album in 1973.

“I brought this song up with Duffey right after I joined the group [in 1995],” says Connell. “And he said that whenever he sang it, he only got a smattering of applause, so we never did it with Duffey. But now when we sing it live, it goes over really well.

Fred really nails it. I swear, it’s like he’s channeling Duffey.”

In true Seldom Scene fashion, they include a couple of rock/pop songs turned bluegrass: John Fogerty’s A Hundred And Ten In The Shade; Please Be With Me, recorded by both Eric Clapton and The Allman Brothers; Bob Dylan’s Tomorrow Is A Long Time.

Members of Seldom Scene are Dudley Connell (guitar), Lou Reid (mandolin), Fred Travers (dobro), Ronnie Simpkins (bass), and lone remaining original member, Ben Eldridge (banjo).

We couldn’t find any audio samples online yet, but we’ll be sure to post back when we do.

Cherryholmes have been a favorite with bluegrass fans since they hit the national scene just a few short years ago. Recently they released a new CD titled, Cherryholmes II Black and White.

The new album just debuted in the #1 position on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart, the family band’s previous record had debuted at #3.

In addition to topping the charts, Cherryholmes will also be found on the newsstands for the next couple months. Issue #70, the July/August issue, of No Depression magazine will feature a three page story about the band and their new CD. The same edition also sports a glowing review of the band’s performance at this year’s Merlefest. The issue hasn’t hit the newsstands yet, but it should be available next week.

It looks like things are off to a good start for Cherryholmes II. Be sure to check out the band’s tour schedule here.

Here’s the story of three guys from Florida who moved to the New River Valley in SouthWest Virginia and are reviving an old local radio station.

WNRV is located in Giles County, half way between Narrows and Pearisburg. The station’s broadcast coverage area should cover from Princeton, W.Va., to Christiansburg. The format they are adopting for the station is all bluegrass, all the time. Except on Sundays when they will air broadcasts from local preachers.

The story is in today’s issue of the Roanoke Times newspaper. The station begins broadcasting this Sunday. The story profiles the three principles involved, their backgrounds, and why they wanted to start a bluegrass radio station.

If you live in the area you might want to start tuning in to WNRV 990AM, The Ridge, for your bluegrass fix.

UPDATE 7/3: WNRV now has a web site set up, though it is still under construction. Check them out at www.wnrvradio.com.

The IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) has recently mailed its members inviting registrations for its 2007 World Of Bluegrass events that take place during the week commencing Monday, October 1st. The bulk of the events will take place at The Nashville Convention Centre, Nashville, TN, and the adjoining Renaissance Hotel.

The World Of Bluegrass week comprises four days of business activity - with seminars, meetings, official showcases, specialist sessions and product exhibitions - three days of Fan Fest entertainment, the International Bluegrass Music Awards show and a golf tournament.

Dan Hays, the IBMA Executive Director, has this to say about embracing the business issues that will be exercising minds during the World Of Bluegrass week.

“The business of music hasn’t seen the level of changes we’re experiencing today since the advent of radio and records almost a century ago and with change comes both opportunity and challenges. The information and ideas you’ll take home from the World of Bluegrass seminars, meetings and just informal discussions will absolutely make a difference when you put them to use. Imagine trying to track all this down on your own and you’ll see how it takes you farther, quicker and saves money and time in the process.

I’m especially excited about one afternoon at this year’s conference which will be devoted to what I’d describe as a ’summit meeting’ with attendees to examine the future of the music business.

It requires an investment to attend and that takes form first in a desire to get to the next level - for our individual careers and for bluegrass in general. When that desire and commitment is real, the events offer the information and connections to help make it happen.”

There are the usual formal showcases and these take place during each of the first three evenings of the gathering (October 1 - 3). (more…)

Testimony from this morning’s full committee hearing in the US House of Representatives Small Business Committee (Assessing the Impact of the Copyright Royalty Board Decision to Increase Royalty Rates on Recording Artists and Webcasters) is posted on YouTube.

Opening statements are included from: Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Ranking Member Steve Chabot (R-OH); Bryan Miller - WOXY.COM General Manager; Tom Silverman - Chairman, Tommy Boy Records; Kieran Kelly - Co-Owner, Stunning Models on Display Records; Cathy Fink - Artist; Joey Allcorn - Artist; Richard Eiswerth - President, General Manager & CEO, Cincinnati Public Radio; Thomas F. Lee - President, American Federation of Musicians.

The question/answer session with the members of the committee are also included, with 15 separate YouTube videos between the statements and the questions.

No big surprises in the testimony - the labels and artists feel they deserve this larger share, and the webcasters decry the large-scale rate increases - though one artist did support the stance of the online radio people.

If you are interested in how this issue is resolved, this is a rare opportunity to hear both sides present their position. If you feel strongly about this and are a US citizen, perhaps you might contact your Representative and make your own views known to them.

Bluegrass fiddler and legendary Ohio Valley radio personality Paul “Moon” Mullins will accept a well-deserved honor at this Saturday’s Cityfolk Festival in Dayton, OH. On June 30, he will receive the 2007 Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award for Performing Arts, given by the Ohio Arts Council for exemplary Ohio artists and musicians.

The award is described in this way by the OAC:

These Fellowships are awarded to an individual or group whose achievements have had a positive impact on the excellence, vitality and public appreciation of folk and traditional arts in Ohio.

Nominated individuals or groups should have a history of continuing artistic accomplishments and be actively participating in their art form as performers, teachers or both. Criteria in this category include authenticity, artistic excellence and significance within the tradition of the performing art form.

Paul was the fiddler with The Stanley Brothers from 1958 to 1960, and wrote the song Katy Daly, one of Ralph Stanley’s most enduring  numbers. He was a founding member of The Boys From Indiana in the 1970s, and The Traditional Grass in the 1980s - along his son Joe.

He began his broadcasting career in the early 1960s, and The Moon Mullins Show was a popular program on WPFB for many years. He joined his son at WBZI in Xenia, OH when Joe decided to give up his career as a bluegrass performer and purchase the station in 1995, and remained there for the next ten years until his retirement.

In 2000, The IBMA voted him Broadcaster of the Year, and bestowed their Distinguished Achievement Award as well.

Congratulations to Paul “Moon” Mullins for the Ohio Arts Council recognition, and thanks for the many years of service to bluegrass music!

More details about Paul’s lengthy career in the business can be found on WBZI MyClassicCountry.com.

With July 4th fast approaching, I got an email from our old pal Wichita Rutherford, letting me know about something special he’s doing for the holiday. While the rest of us are outside enjoying a cookout and listening to our XM radio, he’ll be in the studio hosting a special July 4th marathon. His show The Grand Old Time Machine will run from Noon to 5 PM, EST.

He’ll be serving up a bunch of great bluegrass to go along with all those hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. And, he’ll have a whole bunch of special guests with him. Alison Krauss, Doc Watson, Darrell Scott, Mac Wiseman, John Paul Jones, Dan Tyminski, Sam Bush and loads of others will be making special appearances throughout the afternoon.

So be sure to tune in to XM Radio Channel 14 (Bluegrass Junction) on July 4th and let Wichita DJ your day!

Sam Bush is looking at August 2007 to release his debut live concert DVD, recorded at the Sierra Nevada Brewery concert hall, The Big Room, in Chico, CA. Bush fans have long understood that not matter how much you might enjoy his recordings, the full experience of his live show takes it to another level altogether.

Sugar Hill Records says that the DVD will include live performances of some of Sam’s older songs, as well as tunes from more recent releases. Bonus features will include music videos and some in-studio candid clips which are certain to be hilarious.

Sam is among the most naturally gifted entertainers in acoustic music, wholly apart from his undeniable skills as a musician. Look for this DVD to be a rollicking good time.

UPDATE 6/29: The Bush live DVD will be titled On The Road, and the release date on Sugar Hill is August 14.

Last year the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival held it’s first annual instructional camp for the three days prior to the festival. The camp was successful and they have organized it again this year. The camp and the festival are both held at the Grand Targhee Resort located within the Caribou/Targhee National Forest in Wyoming.

Having lived in Wyoming for three years I can attest to the beauty and splendor of the setting for this event.

The camp is scheduled for August 7-10, 2007 and boasts an impressive line up of instructors.

• Ben Winship - Mandolin & Camp Director
• Mike Marshall - Mandolin
• Scott Nygaard - Guitar
• Tony Trischka - Banjo
• Brian Wicklund - Fiddle
• Eric Thorin - Bass
• John Lowell - Songwriting

Using bluegrass music as the common language, the camp focus is on teaching individual instrumental skills, group playing and jamming. Each day features morning and afternoon classes on your chosen instrument, elective workshops, jam sessions (both structured and unstructured) and evening performances making this Targhee Institute event extraordinary.

Registration for the camp includes 3 days of meals and lodging. Registration fees range from $700 to just over $900 depending on your willingness to share a room with another student.

For information about the festival and the camp, visit them online at the Grand Targhee Resort website.

Our intrepid British correspondent digs even deeper into the vaults for an update on the mistaken personnel credits listed on the new Gentlemen reissue.

Further to our recent discussions regarding the Country Gentlemen Folkways CD, Going Back To The Blue Ridge Mountains, I approached Walt Saunders, currently most notable for his Notes & Queries column for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. He reminded me of the souvenir book compiled to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Country Gentlemen, 1957-1982.

In this book there is a very good Country Gentlemen discography put together by Les McIntyre, an historian and commentator also associated with Bluegrass Unlimited as a contributing writer.

McIntyre lists the musicians on the LP as Charlie Waller, John Duffey, Eddie Adcock and Ed Ferris. He adds this remark,

“Actually this album first came out in Japan in 1967 under the title The Country Gentlemen In Concert (London SLH 86). It was the fourth album in the Folkways catalogue of Country Gentlemen recordings. The songs are all from a live performance in Syracuse, New York, shortly before Bringing Mary Home was recorded.”

Saunders agrees with my assessment that the recordings are from the latter half of 1964 or sometime in early 1965.

With grateful thanks to Walt Saunders for his assistance.

Tomorrow, June 28, The Small Business Committee of the US House of Representatives will conduct a full committee hearing on the hotly contested new royalty rates proposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. The topic of the hearing is officially given as: Assessing the Impact of the Copyright Royalty Board Decision to Increase Royalty Rates on Recording Artists and Webcasters.

The slate of panelists invited to speak includes the groups that have been active in the roiling debate over these new rates - artists and labels likely to insist that the new rates provide them a fair share of income generated from their work, the musician’s union which will agree, and public radio and webcasters who will declare that the new rates hamper their ability to offer a wide variety of music programming online.

We should mention that banjo player, songwriter and storyteller, Cathy Fink, is among the artists invited to speak.

In a number of previous posts on this topic, we have noted disagreements erupting within our bluegrass community over this debate, breaking into the same camps as indicated above.

At The Bluegrass Blog, we encourage the artistic side to be wary of the incentives that these new rates create for businesses who produce - or might produce - web radio content that features bluegrass, old time, folk or acoustic music. Regardless of the intentions of this new structure, making it far more costly for our music to be streamed online will inevitably result in less of it being heard on the Internet. In a narrow, niche segment of the market, we see little gain in artists/labels fighting for a larger share of what would become a rapidly shrinking pie.

Further, we feel that the direction the market is taking is one where distribution as we have traditionally known it becoming ever more irrelevant, and the ability to filter content and promote/publicize your music online will be the dominant factor in increasing sales. This is not to say that a royalty rate where artists and songwriters get a larger share isn’t a defensible position, only that looking for it as a replacement for income lost by declining CD sales might end up throttling an important promotional vehicle in its cradle.

Tomorrow’s hearing is set for 10:00 a.m. (EDT). C-SPAN has not yet posted its full schedule for 6/28, as they often make decisions on which hearings are of higher import at the last minute, so check their schedule on Thursday morning if you have interest in catching it live - or perhaps shown pre-recorded later in the day.

UPDATE 1:00 p.m.: On a related note… Gracie Muldoon, General manager of WorldWideBluegrass.com, has a post on The B where she discusses WWB’s reasons for not going silent during this past Tuesday’s Day Of Silence campaign to protest the new CRB rate proposal.

We recently received a note letting us know that Jim Lauderdale has just wrapped up recording on a new bluegrass CD. Lauderdale’s last bluegrass CD, Bluegrass, was one of my favorite recordings of the last year.

This new CD was produced by dobro player Randy Kohrs. Randy describes the new CD as “bluegrass with a classic-country edge.” Every song on the project was either written, or co-written, by Lauderdale.

The line up of musicians on this CD is impressive.

• Cia Cherryholmes
• Dave Evans
• Shawn Camp
• Randy Kohrs
• Jesse Cobb
• Cody Kilby
• Clay Hess
• Jay Weaver
• Richard Bailey
• Bryn Davies
• Ashley Brown

Look for this new release from Jim Lauderdale to be released on Yep Roc Records sometime in September of 2007.

Nathan Stanley is the grandson of bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. At just 14 years old Nathan is already playing mandolin in his grandfather’s band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. The band includes three generations of the Stanley men as Nathan’s uncle Ralph Stanley II also plays with the group.

Nathan has just announced the release of his second solo CD, He Suffered For My Reward. As the title might imply, the CD focuses on the bluegrass gospel music so strong in the Stanley tradition.

Nathan and his grandfather jointly produced the CD which features performances by gospel vocalist Judy Marshall, along with Nathan’s fellow band members Jack Cooke (bass and vocals), James Alan Shelton (guitar), Steve Sparkman (banjo), and Dewey Brown (fiddle).

Many of the songs on the CD will be familiar to fans of the Stanley music. Cry From The Cross, Traveling The Highway Home, and Take Your Shoes Off, Moses were all made famous by the Stanley Brothers or Ralph himself. The album also features two songs in the a cappella style of Nathan’s grandfather Ralph.

When asked about the CD, Nathan responds

This album is real special. It’s the first one my grandfather and I made together—just him and me.

Yeah, there is something special about that. Especially when your grandfather is Ralph Stanley!

We got the news about this CD, but we don’t have any info about a release date or audio samples.

Banjos falling from the sky!

No, it’s not this summer’s new blockbuster horror film, it’s the winner of the human-powered flying competition, Red Bull Flugtag Nashville last weekend. The Rocky Top Rocket, built and manned by The Greasy Brothers (Brandy, Brody, Blake and Ben Vincent and Brad Moore) not only took first place in the event, but also set the North American record at 155 feet over the Cumberland River on June 23, 2007.

You can see video of their winning entry on the official Red Bull Flugtag site.

The Brothers even have posted a video which details their intensive training in preparation for the grueling Flugtag clash. Silly stuff, but great fun.

The Americana Music Association has announced the nominees for their 2007 Honors and Awards, with the winners to be announced on November 1 during their 6th Annual Americana Music Association’s Honors and Awards Show in Nashville.

Several of the nominees will be familiar to readers of The Bluegrass Blog, including Sam Bush for Instrumentalist, Uncle Earl for New and Emerging Artist, and both The Duhks and Old Crow Medicine Show for Group/Duo.

You can see the complete list of 2007 AMA nominees on their official web site, where you can also find details about the Americana Music Conference, October 31 through November 3, 2007.

For those fiddle players among us, there is a new site custom tailored to you. It’s the Fiddle Hangout. The site just went live last Friday, June 22, 2007, but has averaged 2,000 visits per day since that time.

Springing from the same ground as the Banjo Hangout, the site incorporates a similar set of features that are sure to make it a favorite among fiddle players. The main page of the site will give you all the latest news, forum discussions, and contest/giveaway information. Moving on from there you can enter the discussion forums and join (or start) a conversation about any aspect of fiddle playing. You can set up your own homepage that includes blogging capabilities, photo albums, mp3 archives, etc. Other site features include: free drawings, classified ads, an event calendar, fiddle reviews, online fiddle lessons, and a links archive.

The site’s owner tells me that other content areas planned for the future include a sheet music (notation and tab) archive and an online store. For now, though, the focus is on building the interaction within the community.

…that’s the key to making this the world’s most comprehensive fiddle resource. I’m convinced that it’ll happen, because I think we’ve got a good structure in place that really encourages people to interact online.

One of the coolest things about the Banjo Hangout site that I’ve experienced is having people meet for the first time online, then having that relationship become a “real world” one where people are meeting up to jam, teach each other, help someone in need, or just hang out. I’m completely confident that the Fiddle Hangout will be instrumental in building those kinds of relationships among fiddle players as well.

If the site is to be judged either by it’s early success over the last few days, or by the success of it’s sister site, the Banjo Hangout, I would have to agree that the jumping place to be for fiddle players world over, will soon be the Fiddle Hangout.

The debut band CD from Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, featuring Audie Blaylock, is being recorded now in Nashville. Jeff White is producing, and while no official announcement has yet been made, Rounder Records is expected to release the new project early next year.

At this point, the band is laying down some rhythm tracks while they continue to choose and arrange material. We’ll pass along whatever further details we can pick up as the work progresses.

The band is Michael Cleveland on fiddle, Audie Blaylock on guitar and vocals, Jesse Brock on mandolin and vocals, Barry Reed on bass and vocals, and John Mark Batchelor on banjo.

Should be a good’n.

King Wilkie has a “what I did on my summer vacation” video posted at Amazon.com, which offers a behind the scenes look at the recording of their newly-released CD, Low Country Suite. It covers to some degree how the IBMA’s Emerging Artist of the Year for 2004 went from a hip, young bluegrass act to an eclectic, grass/folk/rock amalgam in just three years time.

It’s an interesting story, where we see a successful touring band make the decision to come off the road, work day jobs outside of music, but remain together and active artistically - writing, arranging and planning for a chrysalis-like return.

See the six and a half minute video on Amazon, where you can also pick up the new CD.

UPDATE 8/21: Amazon is no longer hosting that video, but we have it posted here on The Bluegrass Blog.

I’m asking that question of bands and labels that are selling music. Do you sell your stuff in iTunes? If not, now may be the time.

The news today is that Apple’s iTunes Music Store has lept ahead of both Target and Amazon.com to become the third largest retailer of music in America. Only Wal-Mart and Best Buy scored larger market share.

The new numbers considered every 12 tracks sold online to equal 1 CD. And with that formula in hand, Wal-Mart (who also sells online) grabs 15.8 percent of the market, Best Buy scores 13.8 percent, iTunes 9.8, Amazon.com 6.7, and Target 6.6 percent.

We’ve heard time and again that CD sales are slipping, and indeed they are. CD sales during the first quarter of this year were down 16% over last year. Yet during that same time period, digital sales rose 49%. Yeah, I know, digital sales only make up slightly less than 25% of all music sales, but it’s the segment that’s growing. In fact, according to a story on the ABC News site, Nielson SoundScan is reporting that overall music sales for this year are up 14% over last year, and that due to the rise in digital sales.

At a time when a lot of artists are in despair over the decline in CD sales, this strikes me as good news. If you sell music and you aren’t selling downloads, it’s time to adopt the format the market is embracing.

How these numbers would break down for bluegrass music, I don’t know. I suspect they are quite similar to overall industry based on conversations I’ve had with various artists that come through the studio.